Earlier this legislative session the state House voted down a bill introduced by Rep. Ben Koppelman (R-West Fargo) which would have boosted highway and interstate speed limits by 5 miles per hour across the board. Today the state Senate voted down the other bill increasing speed limits. Senator Lonnie Laffen (R-Grand Forks) introduced SB2057 which…

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I hate Daylight Saving Time. I’ve always been a bit of an insomniac anyway, and that time shift always throws me for a loop. It’s been worse with my kids, who also struggle with it. I’ve never understood the point of shifting the time. If legislation…

Every holiday shopping season Americans have a debate about Black Friday, complete with grumping about stores opening during the holidays themselves. Today in the Senate lawmakers passed a bill aimed at curbing some holiday openings. Currently state law prohibits any retail leases or agreements from requiring that a store be open on Sundays. SB2208, sponsored…

This post is part of a continuing series highlighting the potential state legislative candidates from each district for their party’s nomination. For more information on this series, refer to the “SAB’s Guide To North Dakota District Conventions: A Government Of People Who Show Up” post. The Districts: 9, 10 and 15 Click on a District number above for…

It is unfortunate that HB1257, which would have lifted the ban on bottle rocket sales in North Dakota, failed on the Senate floor yesterday despite all of the available data that proves bottle rockets aren’t as dangerous as opponents would like you to think. Instead, the Senate voted to punish a product rather than people…

The North Dakota Senate today, despite having already passed a bill to expand the dates during which fireworks in general can be sold, voted down a bill to lift a ban on the sale of bottle rockets specifically. Here’s the nauseatingly paternalistic floor debate: “This isn’t about freedom,” Senator Dave Oehlke said. “This is about…

Yesterday we published a ranking of North Dakota House members based on what we considered to be key votes from the first half of the session. Today we’re publishing the Senate version of that ranking. What you’ll notice, right off the bat, is that the House is a lot more conservative than the Senate. That…